Alyssa Bostwick
Alyssa Bostwick, Program Development and Special Projects Coordinator at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida addressed the Sanibel Capitva Lions Club on June 17 via Zoom. She updated the Lions member on the status of the Lee Hospital System at that time and the progress at Golisano Children’s Hospital.
She reported that as of that date the Hospital System had seen a total of 896 patients with Covid 19 and 141 of the admissions were still in the hospital. Although there had been a recent uptick in the number of patients, the hospital was not overwhelmed and not near capacity. She detailed the precautionary measures that being taken, and the cleaning process being used. She said that there was sufficient isolation that people should not be concerned about using the ER if necessary. She indicated that most outpatient consultations were being done through tele medicine.
She had exciting news about the forthcoming opening of the ophthalmology center at Golisano. Three new ophthalmologists have been hired. When the center is fully operational it is estimated that the wait time for an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist will be approximate one week versus the recent experience of children having to wait 272 days for an appointment.
She commented on the financial strain on the hospital system caused by the pandemic. Elective procedures were eliminated, which caused approximately $85 million in lost revenue. She pointed out that the health system in Lee County is one of the few in the state that does not receive any tax funding. All funding for the system is through patient fees and very generous donations from the Southwest Florida community.
The Sanibel Captiva Lions Club has been serving the Sanibel and Captiva Communities for over 5o years. While the Lions Club is most known for their effort to eliminate preventable blindness, the club serves citizens of the Islands and greater Southwest Florida in a variety of ways. The local club is part of Lions Club International, the larges service organization in the world with over 1.4 million members in chapters in over 200 countries.
Sanibel Captiva Lions Club holds regular dinner meetings on the first and third Wednesday of the month during the year. Visiting Lions or other interested people are welcome to attend. For more information on the Sanibel Captiva Lions Club contact Membership Chair Lion Steven Schulz at PO Box 391, Sanibel, FL 33957, or 239-233-6261, or visit our website at www.sanibelcaptivalionsclub.org.